Lobbying’s ex-files

What’s the best way to get a meeting with a European commissioner? Be a former one.

A survey of newly available data show that ex-commissioners are able to take advantage of a soft-spot in the Commission’s transparency regime, which tracks the activities of lobbyists but leaves plenty of leeway on the quality of the information they must disclose.

These former commissioners portray their presence in the corridors of power as that of unofficial counselors to the institution they once served, but they wear a second hat as advisers to big business.

They’re able to gain access because everyone wants the insight of a former commissioner. Which is why their strategic advantage over other lobbyists is clear: They can argue that they are simply imparting knowledge, not advocating for their clients. They are among the most valuable power-brokers in Brussels, enjoying unique access to Europe’s top decision makers.

The EU transparency requirements make it possible. Rather than having to list specific policy areas or legislation as the subject of their meetings with ex-commissioners, the officials can keep it vague, with big-picture topics such as “current EU issues” or “working dinner.”

Yet the EU’s new transparency rules do require a certain level of disclosure. Official records show that several ex-commissioners are making the most of their status to gain valuable access to the top floors of the Berlaymont.

Mandelson’s mandate

Take the example of Peter Mandelson. One of the key architects of Tony Blair’s tenure as British prime minister, Mandelson served as the U.K.’s member of the Commission from 2004 to 2008, handling the important trade dossier. After serving in the British cabinet as secretary of state for business, innovation and skills from 2008 to 2010, he went on to found the lobbying firm Global Counsel.

Mandelson came to Brussels on June 16 for a dinner with Martin Selmayr, chief of staff to Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Selmayr brought along three other senior cabinet members, as well as Ann Mettler, who as head of the European Political Strategic Centre is one of Juncker’s most influential policy advisers.

Under the transparency rules, senior Commission officials are required to disclose their meetings with business interests and specify the exact subject up for discussion (for example: the digital agenda, energy union or trade). In this case, the subject was listed simply as “working dinner.”

Global Counsel lists its EU clients as including insurance firms and banks, manufacturers and energy companies, and Mandelson is a non-executive director of Russian conglomerate Sistema. However, the Commission’s log of the meetings does not specify whether any of Mandelson’s business interests were discussed.

It was not the first time that Selmayr had sought Mandelson’s advice (or vice versa): On Dec. 2, 2014, Juncker’s chief of staff recorded a meeting with Mandelson to discuss “communication challenges.”

That same day was a particularly busy one for Global Counsel, according to Commission records, which show that the firm met an impressive list of top officials.

In a written statement, a spokesperson for the Commission confirmed that Mandelson met: Selmayr; Paulina Dejmek Hack, an aide to Juncker on competition issues; Edward Bannerman, senior adviser to Jyrki Katainen, commissioner for jobs, growth and competitiveness; Matthew Baldwin, head of cabinet for Jonathan Hill, the commissioner for financial stability; Olivier Bailly, head of cabinet for Pierre Moscovici, the economic and financial affairs commissioner; Peter Power, now head of cabinet for Phil Hogan, the commissioner for agriculture, but also Mandelson’s spokesman during time as commissioner; Ditte Juul-Joergensen, head of cabinet for Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager; and Jonathan Faull, director-general for financial stability, financial services and capital markets.

In a written statement, Mandelson’s office said there was nothing unusual about the visit.

“Lord Mandelson often visits Brussels to discuss policy issues ranging from the current debate on Brexit through to global trade,” the statement said. “These subjects are clearly of interest to readers of Global Counsel’s research … and some clients. However, the meetings which Lord Mandelson had in Brussels were not used for commercial advocacy, as participants will confirm.”

The number of interactions rivals those obtained by corporate giants such as Deutsche Bank — which listed 10 Commission meetings since Dec. 1 with relatively junior cabinet members — and dwarfs the number of meetings obtained by rival lobbying firms like Fleishman-Hillard (one meeting with a junior cabinet member and one with a deputy head of cabinet).

Davignon’s diary

Another former commissioner, Belgian Étienne Davignon, can point to a similarly impressive list of meetings with top officials.

Davignon served on the European Commission from 1977 to 1985, and is now one of the most well-connected business figures in Brussels. He is president of the Friends of Europe think-tank and serves on several corporate boards.

Davignon is also a special adviser to Gérard Mestrallet, the CEO of French multinational energy company ENGIE (formerly GDF Suez). He appears twice on Commission websites (April 17 and May 8) as having represented the company in a meeting with Juncker and Selmayr.

That is noteworthy because Juncker has disclosed meeting just two other companies: Deutsche Bank (represented by Juncker’s former finance minister in Luxembourg, Luc Frieden) and Atos (chaired by Thierry Breton, who was French finance minister when Juncker took over chairmanship of the Eurogroup in 2003).

Selmayr also met Davignon on May 8, although it is not clear if this was the same meeting as Juncker’s. Both contacts are logged as “meeting with Etienne Davignon on political priorities of this Commission.”

Commission records, according to the EU Integrity Watch website, reveal that ENGIE has had eight meetings with commissioners and their cabinets since December 1, 2014.

Selmayr’s office has confirmed that Davignon was present at two of these. The meetings were disclosed under the subject headings “Current EU Issues” and “The macroeconomic orientation of the Juncker Commission.”

Commission visitor records show that on Feb. 3 Davignon also met Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič to discuss the Energy Union — the meeting is logged simply as “ENGIE.”

A scheduled meeting with First Vice President Frans Timmermans on June 22 was canceled, when Timmermans was away ill.

Davignon told POLITICO in an email that his meetings were held in a personal capacity due to his “well-established commitment in favor of European integration.”

Brussels Brahmin

As previously reported by POLITICO, former Estonian Commissioner Siim Kallas also has good access to the Berlaymont, having been appointed as “special advisor” to current Latvian Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis.

In April, the Commission told Kallas, who was employed by software company Nortal the following month, that he cannot lobby the Commission for 18 months after leaving office (that is, from Nov. 1, 2014).

Yet records show that Kallas, who most recently was transport commissioner, had by then already met Violeta Bulc, the current transport commissioner, on Jan. 29, for what Bulc’s diary describes as a “courtesy visit in a personal capacity as ex-Transport Commissioner.”

Commission spokesperson Jakub Adamowicz said that Kallas, who at that stage was not employed by Nortal, visited other commissioners that day and that the meeting “does not need to be registered on the transparency list on the website of Commissioner Bulc.”

Kallas’s ability to lobby the Commission is limited by an opinion of the institution’s ethics committee, which manages conflicts of interest arising from commissioners’ work commitment.

However, people who served as commissioners before 2010 are not covered by the ethics committee, which gives the likes of Davignon and Mandelson a strategic advantage over those who held office more recently.

Yet for some former commissioners, access to the new EU executive is more about pleasure than business.

Franco Frattini, who was a commissioner between 2004 and 2008, signed up to the Transparency Register simply to catch up with his old friend Frans Timmermans, according to his office.

When Frattini was in Brussels for some meetings and suggested a get-together with Timmermans, he was told to quickly put his name on the Register. He did so, listing the think-tank he chairs, the Società italiana per l’Organizzazione Internazionale, on the form.

In the subject column, Frattini put “Better Regulation” — one of the current Commission’s top legislative priorities and a big part of Timmermans’ job. But Frattini’s office says the meeting was strictly a friendly catch-up and that better regulation was not even mentioned.